Simon Aldridge

Aldridge was born in Shrewsbury, United Kingdom. He studied chemistry at Jesus College, University of Oxford, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with first-class honours in 1992. He went on to complete a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Inorganic Chemistry at Oxford in 1996, under the supervision of A.J. Downs. His doctoral thesis focused on the chemistry of volatile compounds of main group elements.{{Cite journal |last=Aldridge |first=S |date=1996 |title=Studies of some volatile compounds of main group elements |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:832a8ba8-4b6f-45f3-8a23-403efa9cd6e1 |journal=PhD Thesis, University of Oxford}}

Aldridge began his academic career as a Post-doctoral Associate at Imperial College London and the University of Notre Dame, USA, where he was also a Fulbright Scholar.{{Cite web |title=Simon Aldridge {{!}} Fulbright Scholar Program |url=https://fulbrightscholars.org/grantee/simon-aldridge |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=fulbrightscholars.org}}{{Cite journal |date=2010 |title=Simon Aldridge |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.200905813 |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |language=en |volume=49 |issue=6 |pages=1008 |doi=10.1002/anie.200905813 |issn=1433-7851|url-access=subscription }} In 1998, he joined Cardiff University as a Lecturer in the School of Chemistry, where he later became a Senior Lecturer and co-founded the Centre for Fundamental and Applied Main Group Chemistry.{{Cite journal |last1=Kays (née Coombs) |first1=Deborah L. |last2=Day |first2=Joanna K. |last3=Ooi |first3=Li-Ling |last4=Aldridge |first4=Simon |date=2005-11-18 |title=Cationic Terminal Borylene Complexes: A Synthetic and Mechanistic Investigation of MB Metathesis Chemistry |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.200502343 |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |language=en |volume=44 |issue=45 |pages=7457–7460 |doi=10.1002/anie.200502343 |pmid=16229036 |issn=1433-7851|url-access=subscription }}

In 2007, Aldridge returned to Oxford, where he was appointed as a University Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) in Inorganic Chemistry.{{Cite web |title=Prof Simon Aldridge FRS |url=https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/people/prof-simon-aldridge/ |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=The Queen's College, Oxford |language=en-US}} That same year, he became a Fellow and Tutor at The Queen’s College, Oxford. He was promoted to Professor of Main Group Chemistry in 2010.{{Cite news |year=2012 |title=Recognition of Distinction 2010–2011: Successful Candidates |url=https://gazette.web.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/gazette/documents/media/recognition_of_distinction_2010-2011_successful_candidates_1_to_no._4974.pdf |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2 December 2024 |work=The University of Oxford Gazette}}

Since 2019, Aldridge has been Director for the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Inorganic Chemistry for Future Manufacturing (OxICFM).{{Cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.oxicfm.ox.ac.uk/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=OxICFM CDT |language=en}} He is also Director of the EPSRC CDT in Inorganic Materials for Advanced Manufacturing (IMAT) (2024 - present), with both centres collectively managing research funding of over £25 million.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://imatcdt.chem.ox.ac.uk/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=IMAT CDT |language=en}}

Aldridge’s research interests span inorganic and organometallic chemistry, with a focus on the design of novel main group complexes for small molecule activation. He has published extensively, with over 265 peer-reviewed papers and an h-index of 60 (according to Google Scholar).{{Cite web |title=Simon Aldridge |url=https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=n9bG5V8AAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=scholar.google.co.uk}} His work has been featured in journals including Science,{{Cite journal |last1=Boronski |first1=Josef T. |last2=Crumpton |first2=Agamemnon E. |last3=Wales |first3=Lewis L. |last4=Aldridge |first4=Simon |date=2023-06-16 |title=Diberyllocene, a stable compound of Be(I) with a Be–Be bond |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh4419 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=380 |issue=6650 |pages=1147–1149 |doi=10.1126/science.adh4419 |pmid=37319227 |bibcode=2023Sci...380.1147B |issn=0036-8075}} Nature Chemistry,{{Cite journal |last1=Struijs |first1=Job J. C. |last2=Ellwanger |first2=Mathias A. |last3=Crumpton |first3=Agamemnon E. |last4=Gouverneur |first4=Véronique |last5=Aldridge |first5=Simon |date=2024 |title=Enabling nucleophilic reactivity in molecular calcium fluoride complexes |journal=Nature Chemistry |language=en |volume=16 |issue=9 |pages=1473–1480 |doi=10.1038/s41557-024-01524-x |issn=1755-4330 |pmc=11375610 |pmid=38744913|bibcode=2024NatCh..16.1473S }} and Angewandte Chemie.{{Cite journal |last1=Hicks |first1=Jamie |last2=Heilmann |first2=Andreas |last3=Vasko |first3=Petra |last4=Goicoechea |first4=Jose M. |last5=Aldridge |first5=Simon |date=2019-11-25 |title=Trapping and Reactivity of a Molecular Aluminium Oxide Ion |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201910509 |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |language=en |volume=58 |issue=48 |pages=17265–17268 |doi=10.1002/anie.201910509 |pmid=31550066 |issn=1433-7851}}

Aldridge's most prominent works have involved the synthesis and reactivity of boryl- and aluminyl anions,{{Cite journal |last1=Hicks |first1=Jamie |last2=Vasko |first2=Petra |last3=Goicoechea |first3=Jose M. |last4=Aldridge |first4=Simon |date=May 2018 |title=Synthesis, structure and reaction chemistry of a nucleophilic aluminyl anion |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0037-y |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=557 |issue=7703 |pages=92–95 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0037-y |pmid=29662211 |bibcode=2018Natur.557...92H |issn=1476-4687}}{{Cite journal |last1=Protchenko |first1=Andrey V. |last2=Dange |first2=Deepak |last3=Harmer |first3=Jeffrey R. |last4=Tang |first4=Christina Y. |last5=Schwarz |first5=Andrew D. |last6=Kelly |first6=Michael J. |last7=Phillips |first7=Nicholas |last8=Tirfoin |first8=Remi |last9=Birjkumar |first9=Krishna Hassomal |last10=Jones |first10=Cameron |last11=Kaltsoyannis |first11=Nikolas |last12=Mountford |first12=Philip |last13=Aldridge |first13=Simon |date=April 2014 |title=Stable GaX2, InX2 and TlX2 radicals |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.1870 |journal=Nature Chemistry |language=en |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=315–319 |doi=10.1038/nchem.1870 |pmid=24651198 |issn=1755-4349|url-access=subscription }} in addition to acyclic silylenes and stannylenes.{{Cite journal |last1=Protchenko |first1=Andrey V. |last2=Birjkumar |first2=Krishna Hassomal |last3=Dange |first3=Deepak |last4=Schwarz |first4=Andrew D. |last5=Vidovic |first5=Dragoslav |last6=Jones |first6=Cameron |last7=Kaltsoyannis |first7=Nikolas |last8=Mountford |first8=Philip |last9=Aldridge |first9=Simon |date=2012-04-18 |title=A Stable Two-Coordinate Acyclic Silylene |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja301042u |journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society |volume=134 |issue=15 |pages=6500–6503 |doi=10.1021/ja301042u |pmid=22443679 |bibcode=2012JAChS.134.6500P |issn=0002-7863|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Protchenko |first1=Andrey V. |last2=Bates |first2=Joshua I. |last3=Saleh |first3=Liban M. A. |last4=Blake |first4=Matthew P. |last5=Schwarz |first5=Andrew D. |last6=Kolychev |first6=Eugene L. |last7=Thompson |first7=Amber L. |last8=Jones |first8=Cameron |last9=Mountford |first9=Philip |last10=Aldridge |first10=Simon |date=2016-04-06 |title=Enabling and Probing Oxidative Addition and Reductive Elimination at a Group 14 Metal Center: Cleavage and Functionalization of E–H Bonds by a Bis(boryl)stannylene |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.6b00710 |journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society |volume=138 |issue=13 |pages=4555–4564 |doi=10.1021/jacs.6b00710 |pmid=26981766 |bibcode=2016JAChS.138.4555P |issn=0002-7863|doi-access=free }}

In addition to his research articles, Aldridge co-authored a book on Group 13 elements titled The Group 13 Metals Aluminium, Gallium, Indium and Thallium: Chemical Patterns and Peculiarities, published by Wiley/Blackwell in 2010.{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470976548 |title=The Group 13 Metals Aluminium, Gallium, Indium and Thallium: Chemical Patterns and Peculiarities |date=2011-03-18 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-470-68191-6 |editor-last=Aldridge |editor-first=Simon |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9780470976548 |editor-last2=Downs |editor-first2=Anthony J.}}

Aldridge has received several awards and fellowships in recognition of his contributions to chemistry, including the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Frankland Award in 2018 and Main Group Chemistry Award in 2010.{{Cite web |title=Main Group Chemistry Award |url=https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/archives/main-group-chemistry-award/ |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Frankland Award |url=https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/archives/frankland-award/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |language=en-GB}} He was presented with the Humboldt Prize by The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021.{{Cite web |title=Humboldt Research Award |url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/humboldt-research-award |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=www.humboldt-foundation.de |language=en}} In 2024, Aldridge was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). He has also held visiting professorships at institutions such as the Technische Universität Berlin,{{Cite web |title=Simon Aldridge receives Humboldt Award |url=https://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/article/simon-aldridge-receives-humboldt-award |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.chem.ox.ac.uk |language=en}} Monash University,{{Cite web |title=Collaborations |url=https://www.monash.edu/science/research-groups/chemistry-research-groups/jonesgroup/colabs |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=Science |language=en}} and Hong Kong Baptist University.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://chem.hkbu.edu.hk/events |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=chem.hkbu.edu.hk}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1970 births

Category:British chemists

Category:Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford